Hello Indiana, One of the biggest barriers that stop somebody from donating is often the donation form itself. Potential donors are likely to abandon the process altogether if the form is complicated, confusing, or takes too long to complete.
So in this email, I want to run through some of the most common mistakes I see not-for-profits make with their donation forms and how to fix them.
Too Many Fields
The most common mistake I encounter is an excessive number of fields, each of which is a barrier that users have to overcome. At its most basic, a donation form only needs to know the amount somebody wants to donate, how often they want to donate, and payment details. Yet, all too often you find extra fields such as:
Employer contribution matching.
Gift Aid and other government schemes.
Dedication donation options.
Donor cover options.
As well as these admittedly valuable options, many non-profit organizations add even more fields. These fields are not necessary but exist for marketing.
All these extra fields complicate the user experience, increasing the chance of the user giving up. They are either confused about what answers are needed or frustrated that so much data is being asked for. Indeed, studies suggest that almost a third of people will abandon a form they consider too long. An extra 10% will abandon it if they think it has unnecessary questions.
There is a balance to strike here. For example, an employee matching scheme can be valuable. But, only if the money earned through it is more than the donations lost due to the added complexity.
To know whether a field is worth including, you have to test it and see how it impacts the conversion rate of your donation form. You can do this through surveying, prototype testing, or A/B tests. Yet, in my experience at least, this rarely happens.
Other Issues With Your Donation Form
Not that the number of fields is the only problem. Other problems include:
Poor labeling of fields. Labels are often verbose, confusing, or vague.
Unforgiving data entry. Fields need users to enter data, such as address information or phone numbers, in specific formats.
Inadequate error handling. When the user makes a mistake, the error messaging is often vague and lacks guidance on how to fix the problem.
Breaking auto-complete. Many users are accustomed to using their browser to fill in forms for them. But it's common to encounter donation pages that don't support this functionality.
Not optimized for mobile. Data entry on phones is tough. If it's not done right, you could lose up to half of your potential donations (depending on your mobile traffic).
Not being accessible. Many users use assistive devices to use the web, and those who do have enormous spending power.
We will explore some of these issues in more depth in upcoming emails. But, the key is to keep refining the donation form based on user feedback and data. This will ensure it stays user-friendly, accessible, and efficient for potential donors.
It's this process of feedback, data, and testing that we will explore in the next email. This will not only help identify problems, but also help make the case for improvements.
Until then, as always, I'd love to hear from you with any questions you might have.
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